Eleven years after sharing a conspiracy theory about the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which killed 20 children and six staff members, Ronda Rousey is saying sorry.
Taking to X in the early hours of Friday morning, the UFC Hall of Famer and former WWE star posted a lengthy apology for sharing a conspiracy video about the tragedy, which she referred to as “extremely interesting” and a “must-watch” before later deleting it.
“I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused,” Rousey wrote. “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve endured and words cannot describe how thoroughly remorseful and ashamed I am of myself for contributing to it.”
The former UFC bantamweight champion said that sharing the video was “the single most regrettable decision of my life.” She also said that she had originally included an apology for sharing the video in her memoir but took it out at the urging of her publisher.
“By some miracle it seemingly slipped under the media’s radar,” she wrote. “I was never asked about it so I never spoke of it again, afraid that calling attention to it would have the opposite of the intended effect — it could increase the views of those conspiracy videos, and selfishly, inform even more people I was ignorant, self absorbed and tone deaf enough to share one in the first place.”
While Rousey did receive some negative attention for the post (and her subsequent explanation for it) at the time, it did largely fly under the radar as her stardom in UFC — and later WWE — reached new heights. The post, however, resurfaced this past week when a Reddit “AMA” session she participated in was flooded with questions and comments regarding her thoughts on the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
While Rousey seemingly ignored all of the Sandy Hook-related questions, it appeared inevitable she would have to address the subject considering the viral nature of the AMA. All things considered, her apology was well crafted and thorough, even if it admittedly came 11 years too late.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.